Have you ever said to yourself, “I’m going to try to be sin free for a week!” If so, how did it go? I certainly have, and it’s safe to say I never made it through a week being sin free! I remember when I was in high school, I told myself I was going to stop lying and be honest with my mother about things. At that time my mum did not want me to have a boyfriend, and well you can probably guess that I would go out with my boyfriend a lot behind her back. My happiness was more important to me at the time and so I couldn’t stop lying even though I wanted to. I would time and time again tell myself to be open and honest with my mum, then feel extremely guilty afterwards when I lied.
In some cases, our inability to be sin free or to get rid of a sin can be extremely discouraging and result in guilt. In many cases, guilt can send us in a downward spiral and cause more harm than good in our relationship with God. In times like these we have to remember that being sinful is a part of our human nature. You are not alone in this journey. As a parent you probably never had to teach your child how to be naughty. In fact you would have to teach your child to do what was right. And you probably noticed your child loved saying the word “no” rather than “yes”. In Romans 3:23 it says that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. However this should not discourage us. Instead it should drive us to repentance and make us all the more grateful and appreciative of God’s grace.
“And all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. “ Romans 3:24-25
The good news is that because of Jesus, we can be sure of our citizenship in heaven. And though we all will be in a battle with sin when we are here on this earth, the Holy Spirit is here to guide us and enable us to grow in godliness. Guilt is useful in helping us recognise what it is we are doing wrong, but instead of letting it weigh us down, it should redirect our eyes to Christ. So keep striving for holiness, but do so knowing that we have been justified and saved through Christ Jesus our Lord, through his death, resurrection and ascension into heaven.
“Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me”. Philippians 3:12